Off-Season Strength and Conditioning for High School Football

OFF-SEASON STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING FOR HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

CHAPTER 15

Off-Season Strength and Conditioning for High School Football

By Richard Bell

There is a ton of information that exists regarding how to physically prepare football players for the grind of the game. Throughout my 16 years of coaching, I have always believed that it is not always about the X's and O's of a great program that is the sole contributor for one's success, but the coaches' ability to combine the science, their experience and intuition ? that makes a program really go. In the winter of 2011, I was finishing up a session with an athlete, when I was approached by a very concerned parent who wanted to know if I could work with her 17-year-old son Jonathan, who would be entering his senior year of high school Football that fall. Mrs. Harris calmly explained that despite numerous letters from major Universities, Jonathan's on-field performance in 2010 was well below his expectations. I quickly scheduled a face-to-face meeting involving both parents and Jonathan, so we could put together an off-season football schedule that would not only have Jonathan crushing the competition on the field, but wowing the recruiters in the stands as well.

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THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO YOUTH ATHLETIC STRENGTH, CONDITIONING AND PERFORMANCE

When I finally got the opportunity to meet Jonathan, I was quickly amazed at how tall he stood, 6'4''and with hands that would make a softball vanish if he held one. During our meeting I asked Jonathan to answer the following questions: Questions:

1. What have you done in the past? 2. Why didn't work? 3. What are you willing to do differently this time? Answers: 1. Lots of bodybuilding-type programs to add more

size to my frame 2. Because even though I did add size to my frame,

I became a much slower football player at my positions. (Linebacker and Left guard). I was dominated by opponents smaller and faster than myself, and my performance really suffered during the two-minute drills in close games. 3. This time I want to get the proper coaching and instruction that will allow me to be quicker and more explosive to the ball and opponents. At the conclusion of our meeting we agreed that Jonathan would meet with me 3-4 times a week for the next 15 weeks ? beginning with three days of physical testing. Jonathan had already set a goal to be in top physical shape for his visit to the University of Miami football camp coming up in June.

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FOREWORD

THE FOLLOWING TESTS WERE PERFORMED ON THREE SEPARATE DAYS

Day 1

Assessment Drills Performed: Lower Body 1. Stick overhead squat ? To assess stiffness and range of motion in the hip, ankle and thoracic spine 2. Supine Faber ? To assess stiffness of the muscles in the groin area 3. Supine Knee Flexion ? To assess stiffness of the hip in flexion 4. Single leg squat ? assess hip stability and gluteus maximus and medius strength

Assessment Drills Performed: Upper body 1. Seated thoracic Spine Rotation Range of Motion ? To assess thoracic spine rotation left to right 2. Supine shoulder internal Rotation Range of Motion ? To assess shoulder internal rotation range of motion 3. Supine shoulder external rotation ? To assess shoulder external rotation range of motion 4. Standing scapula upward rotation ? To assess scapular upward rotation, which is influenced by serratus anterior strength.

Day 2 1. Height: 6'4''' 2. Weight: 205lb 3. Body Composition: 22.8% 4. Power Clean: (1rm) 185lb 5. Box squat (1rm) 250lb 6. Bench Press (1rm) 200lb

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THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO YOUTH ATHLETIC STRENGTH, CONDITIONING AND PERFORMANCE

Day 3 1. Vertical Jump: 25' 2. Med Ball Overhead Toss: 20' 3. Standing Med Ball Chest Launch: 18' 4. T-test: 9.5 sec 5. 5-10-5: 5.8 sec 6. 300-yard shuttle: N/A

Note: Due to fatigue, Jonathan was not able to finish the 300-yard shuttle run.

PROGRAM DESIGN Phase 1: Accumulation Program Days per Week: 4 Length: 4 weeks Introduction: Football players love to train in the weight room, and this is great, but my ultimate goal through this journey is to make sure that Jonathan's newly developed size, strength and power will be functional. An accumulation phase is defined as a higher volume of workload aimed at basic abilities such as endurance, strength, and general patterns of movement technique (which depends on the sport ? Issurin, 2008). Like all programs, each phase will build off the other, leading to what should be a bigger, stronger and faster football player. The following program is designed for two upper body lifts per week and two lower body lifts per week.

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OFF-SEASON STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING FOR HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

MON

Foam Rolling

Mobility work

Lower body lifting

Conditioning work

TUE Foam rolling

Mobility work

Upper body lifting

WED Off Off Off

Off

THUR

Foam rolling

Mobility work

Lower Body lifting

Conditioning work

FRI Foam rolling

Mobility work

Upper body lifting

Foam Roll lower body 1. Quadriceps 2. Hamstrings 3. TFL 4. Calf 's

Monday Mobility Drills 1. Ankle Mobs 2x5 2. Squat to stand 2x5 3. High knee walk forward lunge 2x5 4. Kneeling rock backs 2x10

Exercise

Sets Reps Rest

A1 Low cable split squat

3-4 8-12

90

A2 Single leg RDL

3-4 8-10

90

B1 Db Step Up off-set grip

3-4 8-12

90

B2 Reverse Back Extension

3-4 8-10

90

C1 Db Reverse Lunge

3 8-10

75

C2 Low cable rope pull through 3 8-10

75

Conditioning Session: D1. Sled backwards dragging D2. Sand Bag Carry

4 50 yards 100 4 50 yards 100

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